BattleGoats
BattleGoats Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
The game includes 81 unique cards with 4 types, each with a specific icon and color:
- Heroes (star icon, purple)
- Equipment (gears icon, blue)
- Goats (goat icon, orange)
- Creatures (paw icon, green)
Some cards have a bonus vs. specific types.
Building Your Army
Each player gets a random Hero and recruits an army of goats to battle with. To build an army, there are two core methods of play.
Basic
All players are dealt 8 additional cards from the deck at random.
Any cards not drawn are set aside and not used for that game.
Advanced (Draft)
After each player is dealt 8 random cards, they will then secretly select one of those cards to keep, and pass the rest face down to the player on their right. This continues until there are no cards to pass.
You can look at your own face down cards as often as you need to throughout the game, even after being placed on your battlefield; you just can't move them.
Battlefield Setup
With 9 cards in hand, each player sets up their battlefield by laying the cards face down in a 3x3 pattern.
You can never have more than 9 cards on your battlefield.
The layout a player chooses depends on the cards they drew. If a card says it gets +4 for each card directly in front of it, you would want to place it in the back row.
Example: Cowboy Goat (1): "+4 for each card directly in front of this card." Placed in the back row of a column with two cards in front of it, Cowboy Goat would be a 9.
Some cards get a bonus from "adjacent" cards. Adjacent means up, down, left, and right.
Example: Soldier Goat (4): "+1 for each adjacent card." With four adjacent cards, Soldier Goat would be an 8.
Attacking
The player who finishes laying their battlefield out first gets to choose who will attack first.
To attack, choose one of your cards then select any one of any opponent's cards.
Both cards are flipped over and the higher number after any modifiers wins.
Example: Cyborg Goat (8; "-1 for each card in your discard pile. +1 versus other goats") versus Cowboy Goat (1; "+4 for each card directly in front of this card.").
Special abilities or modifiers are listed on the bottom of each card.
After the attack is finished, the winning card flips back over, and the defeated card gets moved face up to that player's discard pile.
If there is a tie, both cards are defeated.
Example: Fainting Goat (7; "When attacking, choose a player. That player selects which of their cards is attacked.") versus Wizard Goat (7; "When attacking, also attacks one of your own adjacent cards if there is one.").
Face Up Cards
Some cards have modifiers or abilities that affect "face up" cards.
For a card to be considered face up, it needs to start the current turn flipped face up.
Example: Matador Goat (4): "If face down when defending, you may flip face up and avoid battle. Both cards remain face up. +1 while face up."
You may use a card to attack, or use its ability, even if it is face up.
Turns and Winning
After attacking, it is the next clockwise player's turn. You must attack if able.
The player with the last card in play wins.
If both players are down to their last card and they are evenly matched (or the last card explodes), you may choose:
- The two final players may share in victory.
or
- Both players lose, fallen defeated on the battlefield; there are no victors.
Special rulings and FAQ's can be found on the CardLords.com website as well.